The aim of the study was to evaluate the usefulness of the municipality’s development strategy as a tool for managing the development of natural valuable areas of the Lublin province. The objective was served by the analysis of literature, development strategy documents and the results of research carried out in 30 municipalities in the group with the highest environmental values in the Lublin province, according to the indicator developed by Danuta Guzal-Dec in the study of natural values of rural and urban-rural municipalities of the Lublin province – the procedure is described in detail in [Guzal-Dec 2013]. Fieldwork was carried out in the fourth quarter of 2013 using an interview questionnaire addressed to mayors. It was found that, despite the general eligibility of the documents analyzed, incorrectness in their preparation and implementation were identified which determine the low efficiency of these strategies as tools for managing the development and creation of sustainable development. The study allowed us to confirm the hypothesis that local development strategies are underexploited management tools for development of communes located in valuable natural areas of the Lublin province.